Ash-dumping means for underfeed stokers



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Dec. 29 1925 F. E. FLEMING ET AL ASH DUMPING MEANS FOR UNDERFEED STOKERS Filed Des. 24, 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Irufe liFleming Y? wizmm@ @www AMM MQ Deco ,A

F. E. FLEMING El' AL ASH DUMPING MEANS FOR UNDERFEED sToKERs Filed Dec. 24, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet ,3

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Patented- Dec. 29, 1925.

UNITED STATES FRANK E. FLEMING- AND WILLIAM E. DE VOE, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNORS,

PATENT OFFICE..

BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO RILEY STOKER CORPORATION, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

ASH-DUMPING MEANS FOR UNDERFEED STOKERS.

Application filed December 24, 1920.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK E. FLEM- ING and VILLIAM E. DE Von, citizens of the United States, and residents of Detroit, in the county of Vayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ash-Dumping Means for nderfeed Stokers, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to ash-dumping means for underfeed stokers, and particularly, in some of its aspects, to stokers in which the fuel-mass is moved longitudinally along the retorts so that the ash is dumped at the rear end of the furnace.

Among the objects of our invention are to provide a simple, `efhcient, easily operated and durable mechanism, comprising a dumping plate or platform, supporting means therefor and plate-operating means, all capable of easy installation, susceptible to ready adjustment to secure and maintain proper operating conditions, and affording facility of manipulation so that it may be operated readily by one man.

In the drawings, wherein we have illustrated an embodiment of our invention, Fig. l is a fragmentary vertical section showing the rear portions of the retort and the associated dumping structure of an underfeed stoker equipped in accordance with our invention; Fig. 2 is an exterior side elevation of the dumping lever and associated parts; Figs. 3 and 4 are vertical sections on lines 3 3 and 4 -4 of Fig. 5; Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the dump mechanism, as applied in a furnace, with parts broken away; Fig. 6 is a section on line 6 6 of Fig. 3; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view of the weighted ends of the dump plates; and Fig. 8 is a perspective detail of a roller-cage.

It is well known practice in underfeed stokers to provide a battery of longitudinal retorts 20, arranged side-by-side, each retort having `marginal tuyre blocks 2l and. (in one make or furnace) the wall-ward or outer tuyre blocks 22 of the extreme retorts extending up the side walls of the furnace to well above the level of the tops of intermediate tuyre blocks 21. The tops of all the tuyre blocks have a declination rearwardly, and under the action of the fuel feeding ram 23 (of usual construction and pperation) the fuel bed is fed rearwardly Serial No. 433,011.

along the retorts over the dead-plate structure 24 (if one be provided) that lies immediately beyond the rear of the retorts, so that the ash spills onto the dumping platform 25 which can be moved to drop its load into the ash-pit 26 below. In general the arrangement thus far described is old.

In the particular construction shown a transverse beam 27 supports the rear ends of the retorts 20 and dead plate 24, and from it, also, is supported the ash-dumping mechanism. A pair of brackets 28 secured to the beam near its ends, and as many supplementary intermediate brackets 29 as may be desired (in accordance with the length of the span between brackets 28) afford support for a squared rock shaft 30 on which is mounted the dumping platform 25 that pref erably is approximately balanced with respect to the shaft. Beyond one of the side walls of the furnace, the rock shaft 30 has connection with an operating handle 67 by which it, and the 'dumping platform, may be rocked.

Naturally an ash-dumping structure is normally subject to hard usage, and it is desirable not only that its elements be rugged, capable of standing such use and also the variations of temperature to which they are subjected, but that they be so mounted and arranged as most effectively to preserve the straightness of the shaft, the alignment of its bea-rings and a constant freedom of shaft movement, thereby to prevent sticking or binding or undue wear on the shaft and other dump mechanism. Also the parts are in the main, made readily replaceable individually without necessity for knocking down the entire dump structure in effecting a repair.

The dump plate structure or platform 25 is made of a series of rather narrow sections 32 extending fore-and-aft, each presenting a fiat top to afford a load-bearing surface 31, and each mounted on the squared rock shaft 30 but all interlocked, so that, without needless strain on the shaft, theyY are always maintained in line and effectively worked as a single plate. Each section 32 has a top member or Hoor-portion 33 with a strengthening web 34 extending centrally along its underside this web carrying a reinforced square hub 35 recessed or .notched from its underside, as at 36, to fit Wearing on, 0r loosening with, respect to thev shaft, andvby arranging the` side Walls of the liubfnotches. and the rib-and-groove connections in parallelism as shown, one may read.- ily slip any section 32 off of the shaft withouty disturbing the others.

l-he shaft 30. is mounted in. appropriate roller bearings in its several brackets 28. and 29. At the proper bearing points the shaft has fitted thereon bushings of cylindrical exterior form to bear on rollers 4lv Which are positioned in the bracket by a cage 42, consisting of semi-annular end pieces and roller-spacing connecting-bars 44, so that the rollers Work on the loliver arcs or semi-circular race portions 45 of the various brackets, the. ends of such races being voverlapped bythe outer margins of end pieces 43. Abovefsuch race eachA bracket has a slot 46 slightly narrower than the,raceway-diameter so toprov-ide shoulders 47 for retaining the cages in place, and such slot 45. is closeable by a dust cap 48 which has its ends shaped to slid-ingly interiit with the Vslot-Walls, snugly'v completing, the bracket closure. The rugged rollerfbearings. thus providedi Work Well in thedust and gritofthe ash-pit.

iYhile all of thel brackets 28 and 29 are alike in their. provision of bearings as described, it is vferyv desirable, Where more than. two bearing brackets are provided, that only the end ones 28. thereof shall rigidly position their. bearingcenters, any intermediate'. brackets being made of, plural-piece construction'.v forA adjustment of the bearings. Therefore, While. the end brackets 28 are of rigid.. single-piece construction, the interme diate brackets 29 aremade offadjustable sections. Each such bracket 29 has a base p0rtion 50.with a, horizontal surf-accor seat 5l straddled by the bifurcated yoke V52 ofA the bracket-head the. limbs of such yoke extend'- ing downA over'the sides of, the seat. Between the seat and the yoke two complei'nentalvvedge members aredisposed, the'upperone 53, having rip-turnedk lugs 54 at its ends (Fig. 4) to position. it against forea1iCl.-aft displacement With respect to the yoke '52, andthe lower Wedge. member 55 Y beingpieferably longerand having aI plane bottom surface so that it may be slid along the seatl. Preferablyrthe,meeting surfaces of the 'Wedges are transversely corrugated as at 5.6, 56', .so that when once adjusted they load and to prevent its sagging, any slight warping or twisting of the shaft due to temperature change or to. severe usage Willy not cause it to bindbadly in its bearings, since the sections ofthe center brackets have a sufficient capacity for slight come and go or dis olacement under such conditions. toi 3 f automatically. adjust themselves insome degree to slight distortions of the shaft,'and

furtherhave the capacity for ready manual 11e-adjustment as the case may require. Furthermore, anyoney of the brackets, or its bearing, may be removed independently of the others, for repair or replacement.

One end of the shaft 8O extends freely through the side Wall of the furnace and through av supportingv bracket 60 upon which, above the level of4 the shaft 30 the hand lever 67 is pivoted. In practice, for convenience, We prefer to make the shaft of tivo sections 30, 30', coupled. near the side ivallk as'at 30, but this is not essential. The hand lever 67, shown as standing in horizontal position, has connected to ita link 6l, suitably curved as shown, the opposite eX- tremity thereof having pivotal connection with a lever 62 that is adjustably fixed to the. endl of the shaft 30. i Such lever has a split hub 63 With a toothed inner face G4 engaging a split, externally toothed bushing 65 that is mounted onthe squared shaft 30', so. that When the bolts 66. forthe split-lever hub are tightened theV parts areV securely clamped tothe squared4 shaft, but manifestly the shaft bushing may be adjusted in the lever. as desired. `Zhen the bolts are loosened the leverage afforded is such as to give an ample range of dumping motion tothe dump late` structure, and yet to enable one man to operate thedump, when loaded, with ease. The handle may be toggle-locked to hold the dump in raised position by being thrown over the line ofy centers of lever G7 and link 6l, asy the curvature of link 61 permits, and as `showen in dotted lines, Fig. 2.

Thile We have herein described in some detail a particular embodiment of our invention it will be apparent to. those skilled in the art that changes in the features of construction. and arrangement may be made Without departure from the spirit of our invention and, Within thescope of the appended claims.`

/ 7e claim:

l. A furnace-dumping; piatform structure,

for a furnace providing a dump area, comprising a rock shaft of squared cross-section disposed to stand normally with a diagonal of its squared cross-section vertical, said shaft traversing said dump area, and a plurality of sections each having a relatively long, horizontal, load-carrying plate portion which is relatively thin, and a vertically disposed thicker counterweight block extending downwardly from the front end of said plate portion, a strengthening rib along the underside of the plate portion and ei;- tending to and joining the counterweight block, and a hub formed on said rib and located near the connterweight block, said hub having a diagonally-downwardly opening squared notch therein for engagement with the shaft.

2. A furnace-dumping platform structure, for a furnace providing a dump area, comprising a rock shaft of squared cross-section disposed to stand normally with a. diagonal of its squared cross-section vertical, said shaft traversing said dump area, and a plurality of sections each having a relatively long, horizontal, load-carrying plate portion which is relatively thin, and a vertically disposed thicker counterweight block eX- tending downwardly from the front end of said plate portion, a strengthening rib along the under side of the plate portion and extending to and joining the counter-weight block, and a hub formed on said rib and located near the counterweight block, said hub having a diagonally-downwardly opening squared notch therein for engagement with the shaft, and inter-engaging means on adjacent sections arranged to be engaged and disengaged by displacement of the sections in a direction paralleling the notch-sides, whereby said sections may individually be slipped into or out of engagement with adjoining sections and the shaft.

3. A. furnace ash-dump platform struc ture, comprising a shaft of non-circular sec tion and a plurality of platform-sections each having a hub with a recess shaped similarly to the cross-section of the shaft for engagementwith the latter by movement of the platform-section in a predetermined direction with respect to the shaft, adjacent platform-sections having detachably interengageahle means arranged to he inter-engaged by movement of one said platformsection relative to another in the same direction that engages the first said platformsection with the shaft.

1t. In a furnace ash-dump platform structure, the combination of a squared shaft and a plurality of platform sections arranged transversely of the shaft, each said section comprising a relatively long load-carrying plate portion and a relatively short counterweightportion and a square-notched hub, aid counterweight portion provided on opposite sides with respective rib and groove surfaces paralleling the sides of the notch, whereby said sections may individually be slipped into or out of engagement with adjoiningsections and the shaft.

5. An ash-dump structure for furnaces, comprising a rock shaft, a platform mounted on said rock shaft and supporting brackets for said roch shaft including brackets for supporting the shaft adjacent its ends and an intermediate bracket com prising a head section affording a horizontal saddle, a hase section having a horizontal seat parallel therewith, and an interposed two-piece adjusting wedge structure slidable with respect to one of the parallel surfaces afforded by the saddle and seat, the confronting surfaces of said wedge sections being complen'ientally corrugated.

G. In a furnace ashfdump structure, the combination of a rock shaft, bearings therefor, a dump platform carried thereby and shaft ojierating means comprising a hand lever, a link connected thereto, a cranlelever pivoted to said link, and means connecting said crank lever to said shaft comprising a part non-rotatably secured to said shaft and engaging, for rotary adjustment, a portion of the cranl; lever` and means for securing said crank lever on said part in adjusted position.

FRANK E. FLEMING. VILLIAM E. DE VOE. 

